Collins, who lives on 46th Street, a few blocks from the intersection, said he was too late to snag any cash. He was taking in the scene on Vernon Avenue, where police and news vans assembled outside Numero Uno supermarket.

Another bystander, Anthony Solano, said he saw people swarming around the cash on 46th Street, "like piranhas attacking their meat."

"You know how piranhas feed, how they attack?" Solano said. "Yeah, that's what it was like."